Sometimes a wrongful conviction occurs because of an honest mistake. Sometimes wrongful convictions occur because police, forensic investigators and prosecutors are more interested in getting a conviction and closing a case than finding the truth.

The result is the same: people are torn from their families, lives are destroyed, and years are lost that can never be reclaimed.

The harm can’t be undone, but just as a wrongfully convicted person deserves freedom, he or she also deserves to be compensated for what’s been taken.

The federal government, the District of Columbia, and more than 30 states have compensation statutes that provide payment to people who have been exonerated. A wrongfully convicted person also may have a claim under federal law for the violation of his or her constitutional rights.